How to Make Every Voter Matter and Make Spoiler Effects Go Away

In “How to Make Every Voter Matter and Make Spoiler Effects Go Away,” UC Berkeley Philosophy Professor and Better Choices Board Member Wes Holiday introduces Consensus Choice, and explains how it works and its benefits.

In many districts in the United States, a sizeable minority of voters cannot influence the choice of their representative, assuming they vote sincerely.

There are several causes of this problem.

One cause is that often the real decision is made in the partisan primary for the largest party in the district—with no input from voters who do not belong to that party. The solution to this cause is to move from partisan primaries to open primaries.

Illustration with “Open Primary” producing Top 4 or Top 5 candidates for a General Election.

Another cause is that voters in the minority are only allowed to indicate a preference for one candidate, and their favorite is doomed to lose. The solution to this cause is to allow voters to rank their preferences of candidates on a ballot.

Illustration of a ranked ballot with four candidates.

A third cause is that voters in the minority are given a chance to express preferences between all the candidates, but the voting rule ignores many of those preferences. The solution to this cause is to use a voting rule based on head-to-head matchups, so every voter has equal influence on every head-to-head matchup.

Illustration of head-to-head matchups of candidates.

Learn more about the benefits of Consensus Choice.